SOURCE: Stafford, Kim. “At the Only Bar in Dixon.” In James Welch, edited by Ron McFarland, pp. 113-20. Lewiston, Idaho: Confluence Press, Inc., 1986.

In the following essay, Stafford contemplates Welch's poetry and the impact that it has had on her life.

What does it take to have a good time? Especially now, at August midnight, the only bar in Dixon is a warm light for Montana mosquito souls. Six of us hunch inward toward a story told by Elaine, the redhead in her laughing fifties at the bar:

Yeah, Indians. Well, you know Mike Dubois. He comes in one time we're having this big party. He shows up holding a blue helium balloon on a string—thought that's how you have a good time, I guess. So I says to Don here, “See that guy down there, that Mike? He's Indian, and he's your cousin. You go down...